Starting 2009 with God’s grace

December 31, 2008 by Audreys · Leave a Comment 

Tonight we will be going to sleep to wake up to the New Year.  It is with both tears of joy and tears of sadness that I look back upon 2008.  There were so many victories, yet so many trials; so much laughter, yet so many tears.   But you know what?  I made it through everything thanks to Jesus.  I was never alone.  He steadied me when I was so grief-stricken that I couldn’t stand on my own; he comforted me during those first minutes, hours, days and months without Katelyn.   I can honestly say without a doubt that I could not have made it without Him. 

All within a year and a half, I changed jobs, bought a new car, moved residences, got married, went on a honeymoon, bought a new house, moved again, and just when things started to calm down, I gave birth to my daughter already knowing that her heart stopped beating and she would be stillborn.  Things slowed down quite a bit after that.

If I have learned anything through this, it is that things that once seemed important really aren’t that important anymore.   Situations, tragic or otherwise, make us stop and re-evaluate our priorities.  I realized that there were times when I put other people and things before God even if each time was unintentional.  I am now more in tune with making sure God is number one in my life always, because when you think about it, without Him there is no hope, there is no salvation, there is no peace.  So do I have all my priorities in order? Absolutely not, but I am working on it. And through the grace of God, I will.

What will the New Year bring?   Only God knows for sure.  But there is one thing I am certain of, and that is that there will be more joy in my life than in 2008.  Not because of circumstances alone, but because God has shown me that through Him I will have peace, joy and love that is just overflowing. 

My lips will shout for joy,
when I sing praises to you;
my soul also, which you have redeemed. Psalm 71:23